The Avengers: Alexandra
by Midnight96
Summary: Alexandra Carter led a fairly normal life, until she was called in by S.H.I.E.L.D. Now she must help the Avengers to defeat Loki, but in doing so she may get more than she bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Sorry about not updating for awhile, but I was editing my story and so I hope you like the new edition. Please review!**

Chapter 1

The helicopter descended rapidly and I followed Director Fury and Agent Hill off of it. My name is Alexandra Carter. S.H.I.E.L.D. called me in to be the bodyguard of Director Fury temporarily. I know he is perfectly capable of handling himself, but I was there in case something went wrong with their energy research. My powers made me more than qualified for the job, so when they sought me out I accepted their offer. Caulson was on the landing strip waiting on us.  
"How bad is it?" Fury asked over the sound of the helicopter.  
"That's the problem, sir. We don't know." Caulson led us to an elevator that we sped down. We exited and began hurriedly walking down the hall.  
"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago", Caulson said.  
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to testing phase", Fury replied.  
"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event."  
Hill spoke up, "It just turned itself on?"  
Fury ignored Hill's question and addressed Caulson, "Where are the energy levels now?"  
"Climbing, When Selvig couldn't shut it down we ordered evac."  
"How long to get everyone out?"  
"Campus should be clear in the next half hour."  
"Do better." Caulson abruptly stopped walking and switched directions.  
"Sir", Hill said, "Evacuation may be futile." We began to descend a set of stairs.  
Fury shot a look at Hill, "We should tell them to go back to sleep?"  
"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance."  
"I need to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out."  
"Sir, is that really a priority right now?"  
Fury stopped at the bottom of the staircase and turned towards Hill, "Until such time as the world ends we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below; every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone."  
Hill looked as if she wanted to say something more, but only nodded her head, "Yes sir." She descended the staircase, taking two agents with her. Fury and I went into Selvig's lab. As soon as I stepped in, I instantly felt more alert and energetic; almost as if I had just had an energy drink. I followed Fury as he walked towards Selvig.  
"Talk to me Doctor."  
"Director."  
"Is there anything we know for certain?"  
"The Tesseract is misbehaving."  
"Is that supposed to be funny?"  
"No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's behaving." They walked towards the computer linked to the cube and I followed them. My proximity to the Tesseract sent a surge of adrenaline through me and blue energy crackled cross my fingertips. The cube sparked an arc of energy and caught everyone's attention.  
"I assume you pulled the plug?" Fury had already directed his attention back to Selvig.  
"She's an energy source. We turn off the power she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..."  
"We prepared for this, Doctor; harnessing energy from space."  
Selvig looked up from the computer screen only to glance back down at it, " But we don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete and it's throwing off interference, radiation. It's increased exponentially", he said glancing at me, "Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."  
"That can be harmful. Where's Agent Barton?"  
Selvig scoffed, "The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual", he said gesturing behind him.  
Fury spoke clearly into his earpiece, "Agent Barton, report." Clint descended from the rafter and quickly made his way to us.  
Fury didn't waste anytime chewing him out, "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."  
"Well I see better from a distance." He stretched his hand out to me, "Agent Carter."  
I shook his hand, "Agent Barton."  
We moved closer to the Tesseract and Fury turned towards Barton, "Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?"  
Monitors began beeping and a blonde scientist spoke loudly to Selvig, "Doctor, it's spiking again." I felt waves of energy coursing through my body as the cube started to spark.  
"No one's come or gone, and Selvig's clean. No contacts, no IMs. I f there was any tampering, sir, it wasn;t at this end", Barton said answering Fury.  
Fury shot Clint a strange look, "At this end?"  
"Yeah, the cube is a doorway to space right? Doors open from both sides." The cube began to spark more violently and the building began to shake. The energy started pulsing around the cube and a blue energy coated my entire body. I collapsed onto my knees beside the Tesseract as I felt the pull of the energy, and everyone seemed to be frozen watching. Energy started to whirlpool ground the cube and I, and then beam shot outwards, drawing from me and the cube. At the other end of the room a portal began opening. It grew until it collapsed in on itself and sent out a pulse of energy. The beam vanished and the energy coating me disappeared. I could feel all my power riled up, begging to be released. I stood up slowly in front of Barton and Fury, looking at the opposite side of the room. As we watched, a figure slowly raised themself from a kneeling position.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

His black hair was slicked back and touched his shoulders. His green eyes blazed with amusement, and matched the color of the attire he wore. A cruel smile graced his lips, and I couldn't help but think sexy when I saw him. There was a small moment of silence as if he seemed to notice we were there.  
Fury spoke up, "Sir, please put down the spear." My eyes were drawn to the weapon the man held, a golden spear withsome kind of blue top piece. The man looked at the weapon in his hand as if he had forgotton it was there. He drew back his arm and fired a blast at us. I grabbed Fury and threw ourselves to one side, Barton jumped in the other direction. Gunfire sounded and the man jumped at one of the agents, stabbing the spear into their chest. He turned and threw small knives at a few of the guards, who fell to the floor dead. Another blast was fired and the blonde scientist fell to the floor. He whirled and sliced at a man behind him in the chest. Barton pulled out his gun and fired a few shots at him, but the man merely waved his hand and the bullets seemed to disappear. He fired another blast, killing guards and destroying equipment. The man kicked a guard and he flew backwards into a concrete wall. I winced as I heard the loud cracking noise. The man faced us, panting, holding his spear at the ready. Barton stood and the man rushed at him and caught his arm.  
"You have heart", I heard him say in a soothing voice. I helped Fury to his feet and we looked over at them. The tip of the spear lit up blue and he touched it to Barton's chest. His eyes turned black and then blue. The man released him, and to our disbelief, Barton put his gun in it's holster. Fury knelt and put the cube in a case as the man went around making more minions. Fury and I turned to go when his voice stopped us.  
"Please don't", his voice was like velvet, "I still need that."  
"This doesn't have to get any messier", Fury replied turning to face him.  
"Of course it does. I've come to far for anything else. I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."  
"Loki, brother of Thor." Loki's gaze flicked over to Selvig at the sound of his voice.  
"We have no quarrel with your people", Fury said.  
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot."  
"Are you planning to step on us?"  
"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free."  
"Free from what?"  
"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that in your heart", Loki turned and pressed the tip of the spear to Selvig's chest, "You will know peace."  
"Yeah, you say peace. I kind of think you mean the other thing."  
"Sir", Barton said walking over to Loki, "Director Fury and Agent Carter are stalling. This place is about to blow and bury a hundred feet of rock on us. They mean to bury us."  
"Like the pharaohs of old."  
"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself", Selvig said looking up from the computer, "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."  
"Well then", Loki said looking over to Barton. Barton raised his gun and fired at Fury and then me. The grabbed the case as we hit the floor, and made their way out. Luckily, Fury had on a bulletproof vest, but I didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I woke to bright lights in my eyes. I sat up slowly, disoriented. After blinking a couple of times everything came into focus. Bruce Banner, I remembered him from his file, was working on some device not far from me. I was on a small examination table in the lab.  
"Where am I?"  
"Fury calls it the helicarrier. You've been out for a few hours." I nodded, that's where I thought I had been.  
"Why exactly am I in the lab?"  
"You started giving off high levels of gamma radiation, so they moved you in here."  
"That happens when I get hurt sometimes." I stretched my hand out. "Pleasure to meet you Dr. Banner. I've heard about your work. I'm Agent Carter."  
He shook my hand, "The pleasure is all mine Agent Carter."  
"Now if you'll excuse me Doctor, I need to get back to work." He nodded and went back to working on the device.  
I left the lab and went to the holding cell. It was a huge, glass container that was insulated and incredibly durable. My room was set off to the side of it, and that's where I went. After a hot shower, I changed into a clean bodysuit and pulled on my pair of black, knee-high combat boots. I then pulled my waist-length, black hair into a ponytail. Looking into the mirror, I noticed my glowing, sapphire blue eyes before I put the brown contacts in. I placed my gun in it's holster and left for the control room. Director Fury was standing at the controls, Steve Rogers standing a little ways behind him.  
"Agent Carter, good to see you awake", Fury acknowledged me. Monitors began beeping and a worker turned towards Fury.  
"We got a hit, a 67% match. Wait, cross-match, 79%."  
Caulson approached him, "Location?"  
"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrousse. He's not exactly hiding."  
Fury looked over at me, "Agent Carter, get there now." I turned immediately and left the room, his words following me, "Captain, you're up."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I felt completely out of place in the courtyard. Cars drove by and some people were walking. I was wearing a bodysuit whilst people in formal attire were going into the building across from me. I kept a hand on my gun, waiting on Loki to make an appearance. I had left ten minutes before the others, so there would probably be a slight delay in backup. My posture was tense and I could feel the energy crackling within my body. I caught glance of my reflection in a passing car's window. My contacts had disintegrated and my eyes now were glowing brightly. I looked over at the building as I heard screams of people and they began pouring out of the building. Then Loki himself came out, wearing gold and green armor, and a ridiculous golden helmet. At the sight of his spear my adrenaline spiked. I heard the wail of a siren and Loki fired a blast at the police car. It fishtailed and skidded along the asphalt behind him. The crowd running around me stopped as a replica of Loki appeared.  
"Kneel before me", he said in a clipped tone. He repeated the command as another replica appeared. One more replica appeared and the original Loki advanced.  
"I said", he slammed down his spear as a flash of blue light went up, "KNEEL!" Somehow I has gotten squished within the crowd and I knelt as they did.  
"Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state?" He began advancing through the crowd. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation . The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."  
A man behind me stood up, "Not to men like you."  
Loki smiled, "There are no men like me."  
"There are always men like you."  
"Look to your elder people", he charged his spear, "Let him be an example." He fired the blast as I stood up. The energy was absorbed by my skin and I fired a blast right back at him and he fell to the ground. The crowd cleared out as soon as he went down. I walked towards him.  
"Fancy seeing you here."  
He stood up, "You again." A jet sounded overhead, and I heard Natasha's voice.  
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.." He fired a blast at the ship with the spear. I ran at him and hit him in the jaw with my fist. He only seemed amused at my hit, and he swung at me with his spear. I ducked and rolled out of his path. He hit me with the butt of his spear and I sprawled to the ground. Energy sprang to life around my hands, and I could feel my eyes glowing brighter. I jumped to my feet and ran at him, swinging at his face, but he moved and I missed. He swung the spear and I bent backwards to avoid it. He slammed it downwards at me just as I moved out of the way. He swung the spear again and I ducked to avoid it, but he brought it up behind. II went flying through the air and landed on my stomach. I turned over and he stalked towards me. I got to my knees when I felt him place the tip of the spear on my head.  
"Kneel", he growled at me.  
"I don't think so." I grabbed the spear and lunged to my feet. I jumped and hit him in the face with a roundhouse kick. Loki advanced on me and picked me up and threw me. II then heard rock music on the speakers of the jet as I stood up. Tony Stark fired a blast at Loki, and he flew backwards. He landed beside me and pointed his artillery at Loki.  
"Make your move Reindeer Games." Loki's armor faded to his black and green clothing as he held up his hands in surrender. "Good move." Tony's weapons all moved back into his suit.  
"Mr. Stark."  
"Agent Carter." The jet landed and we took Loki on-board. I saw Steve.  
"Thanks for the backup."  
He smiled at me, "Looks like you had it covered." I shook my head and then sat down as the jet took off. After a while I moved to stand beside Stark and Rogers, Loki's gaze had been too comfortable for my liking.  
"I don't like it", Rogers said.  
"What Rock of Ages giving up so easily", Tony retorted.  
"I don't remember it being that easy."  
"Really? Well when you say remember I have a feeling that was from 70 years ago."  
"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."  
"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." Thunder began rumbling overhead and lightning flashed.  
Natasha turned to look at us, "Where is this coming from?" I looked over at Loki, who had suddenly gotten antsy.  
I blurted the words before I could hold them back, "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"  
His emerald eyes pierced mine as he responded in a velvet voice, "I'm not overly fond of what follows." There was suddenly a loud thump from overhead. Stark put on his helmet and opened the hatch.  
Rogers looked over at him, "What are you doing?" A figure landed on the door of the hatch in front of Tony. He was tall and muscularly built, with blonde hair that touched his shoulders. He wore silver armor from which a red cape protruded, and in his hand he carried a large hammer. Stark aimed his blasters at the man when he was hit by the hammer. Stark flew backwards, knocking Steve and I down. The man grabbed Loki by the back of his neck and launched themselves out the door of the jet. Stark stood up.  
"And now there's that guy."  
Natasha turned to look at us again, "Another Asgardian?" Steve stood and helped me up.  
"That guy's a friendly?"  
Stark eyed Rogers, "Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him the Tesseract is lost." He walked to the edge of the hatch.  
"Stark, we need a plan of attack!"  
"I have a plan. Attack." Then he flew out of the jet. Steve grabbed a parachute and pulled it on.  
"I'd sit this one out Cap", Natasha said.  
"I don't see how I can."  
"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods."  
"There's only one God ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." He grabbed his shield and jumped out of the jet. I sat down in the seat that Loki had occupied and waited.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thank you all who reviewed, I greatly appreciate the support. I don't own The Avengers, unfortunately, just my character. So here is Chapter 5.**

Chapter 5

As soon as we arrived on the helicarrier, I grabbed Loki by his wrists and started walking to the holding cell. Dozens of armed agents trailed behind me. As we passed by the lab, I had to pull Loki along to keep him from ogling Dr. Banner. When we got to the holding cell I pressed a button on the control panel. Fury had shown me how to use it just in case I had an incident. I led him inside and went back to the control panel to close the door. His eyes observed my form and a dangerous smile curved his lips. Fury strode into the room and came over to the control panel.  
He looked at Loki, "In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass", he pressed a button on the control panel and a hatch opened beneath the cell, "It's 300,000 feet down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury gestured at the cell, "Ant", and then gestured at the panel, "Boot."  
Loki chuckled darkly, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."  
"Built for things a lot stronger than you."  
"Oh I've heard. A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man", he locked eyes with me, "An explosion waiting to happen, a power wanting to be controlled." Blue energy lit up my hands and Fury gave me a look. I closed my fists to hide the blue. "How desperate are you that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"  
"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal force a force you can't hope to control and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You may not be glad that you did."  
"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close", his eyes lit up in amusement, "To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power, and for what?" He grinned and a shiver went across my skin. "A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded of what real power is."  
Fury turned to leave, "Well let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something." Fury looked over at me, "Agent Carter, new orders. Guard Loki." I nodded and Fury and the other guards left.  
"Humans are foolish."  
I looked up at Loki, "And why is that?"  
"They attempt to find something that they already have."  
"Is it so obvious?" He grinned.  
"You absorbed the energy from my spear and you are able to manipulate the same energy. You even bonded powers with the Tesseract. The answer is clear in your eyes."  
I nodded, "At least someone figured it out."  
He smiled, "And you think they don't know?"  
I stepped closer, "What do you mean?"  
"You should ask what Phase 3 is. Barton told me all about it. They know everything about you." My face paled at his words and he chuckled.  
"Everything?" I didn't mean for the words to sound weak, but they did.  
He nodded, "All of those centuries you have tried to hide."  
I stepped back from the glass and turned my back to him, "What are you planning?"  
"Must I be planning something?"  
"You didn't let us take you for no reason. I fought you. You were taking it easy on me. You wanted to come here." He smiled and sat down at his bench in the cell.  
I turned to look at him, "For what it's worth you aren't as bad as they make you out to be."  
"Is that so?"  
"I'm sure you've done bad things, who hasn't? But nobody doesn't do anything for no reason at all. I believe things have been done to you to make you feel the need to do those things."  
He blinked in surprise a few times and then recovered, his eyes becoming angry, "I do not want your pity", he growled.  
"Very well." I turned on my heel and left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Banner was scanning the scepter with some kind of device when I walked in, "The gamma outputs coincide with Selvig's notes on the Tesseract." Stark looked up from a screen.  
"Really?" A machine started to beep in the corner of the room and Dr. Banner rushed over to it.  
"We got a hit on the Tesseract."  
"Where", Stark asked.  
Banner gave him a confused look, "In this room."  
I cleared my throat to get their attention, "Sorry guys that's just me."  
Stark pointed at me, "You're a Tesseract?"  
"I guess you could say that."  
"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. know?"  
"I really don't know anymore. They should, after all, that is how they found me in the first place."?  
Banner went back over to the scepter, "How did they find you? Did you destroy a city?"  
"You've heard of the Chernobyl incident right?" They both nodded. "I did that."  
"That was 27 years ago", Stark stated.  
"I look very young for my age, Mr. Stark."  
"How old are you exactly?"  
"That's classified information." He shrugged his shoulders and went back to Banner.  
"You should come to Stark Tower sometime. You'd love it, it's like candy land."  
"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke Harlem."  
"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises." He moved around Banner and shocked him.  
"Ow." Then Rogers walked into the lab.  
"Hey!"  
Stark looked at Banner hard, "Nothing?"  
"Are you nuts?" Rogers walked towards the two men.  
Stark ignored Rogers and addressed Bruce, "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"  
"Is everything a joke to you?"  
Stark finally acknowledged Steve's presence, "Funny things are."  
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." He looked towards Banner, "No offense Doc."  
"It's all right; I wouldn't have come if I couldn't handle a few pointy things."  
Stark grinned, "You're tiptoeing big man, you need to strut."  
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark", Steve lectured.  
"Do you think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all of the variables.'  
"You think Fury's hiding something?"  
"He's a spy. Captain, he's 'the spy'. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too", he gestured at Banner, "Isn't it?"  
"Uh…", Banner stuttered.  
"Doctor?" Rogers questioned.  
"What Loki said earlier; I think it was about the Stark Tower. It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"  
"It's just the prototype", Stark said, "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at."  
Banner continued, 'So why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"  
Stark smiled, "I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking in to all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files."  
"I think Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed", Rogers said, "We have orders, we should follow them."  
"Following's not really my style."  
"And you're all about style aren't you?"  
"Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?"  
Banner interjected, "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you."  
Rogers looked thoughtful, "Just find the cube." Then he turned and left the room.  
"You're accessing the secure files?" Stark nodded proudly. "Fury isn't going to like that." Stark shrugged his shoulders.  
"I meant to ask you Agent Carter..."  
I cut Banner off, "Please call me Alex, I have heard Agent Carter all day and I'm sick of it."  
He nodded, "Well Alex, I meant to ask you, are you allright, you came in looking like you'd seen a ghost?"  
"Just something Loki said."  
"What did he say?"  
"He said..." I stopped talking as I heard Natasha's voice on my head piece.  
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk, keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way, and send Thor."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I moved close to the window and leaned against the wall. when Fury walked in.  
"What are you doing Mr. Stark?"  
"Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you."  
"You're supposed to be finding the Tesseract."  
Bruce cut in, "We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit we'll have the location within half a mile."  
"And you'll get your cube back", Stark finished. He looked at something on the screen, "What is Phase 2?"  
Right then Steve walked into the lab and set a large piece of equipment down on a table, "Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons." He looked over at Stark, "Sorry, the computer was going a little slow for me."  
"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. That doesn't mean we're..."  
Stark cut Fury off by flipping his computer around, "I'm sorry Nick, what were you lying?"  
Steve gave Fury a hard look, "I was wrong Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Natasha walked into the room, followed by Thor.  
Banner gestured at her, "Did you know about this?"  
"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor?"  
"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."  
"Loki's manipulating you."  
"And you've been doing what exactly?"  
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."  
"Yes and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." He pointed at the screen, "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."  
Fury pointed at Thor, "Because of him."  
"Me?"  
"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet that had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."  
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."  
"But you aren't the only people out there are you? And you're not the onlt threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be controlled." I felt a wave of anger towards Fury. I wasn't sure if he meant me directly, but I was pretty sure he was hinting at it.  
Steve raised his brows, "Like you controlled the cube?"  
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies", Thor said. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."  
"A higher form?" Steve asked.  
"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something", Fury stated.  
"A nuclear deterrent", Stark said, "Bacause that always calms everything right down."  
"Remind me again how you made your fortune Stark."  
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep", Steve said.  
"Wait, wait, hold on. How is this now about me?"  
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"  
Thor looked over at them, "I thought human were more evolved than this."  
Fury turned to look at him, "Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" I closed my eyes as I started to feel unstable. All the words seemed to swirl together and I felt my energy threatening to boil over. I closed my fists and let out long breaths and struggled to stay in control of my powers. I opened my eyes at Thor's words.  
"You speak of control and yet you court chaos."  
Banner stepped from behind the table, "It's his M.O. isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that creates chaos. We're... we're a time bomb."  
Fury gave him a cautious look, "You need to step away."  
Stark placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"  
Steve knocked his hand away, "You know damn well why. Back off."  
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."  
"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"  
"Genius, billionaire, playbot, philanthropist."  
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."  
"I think I would just cut the wire."  
"Always a way out, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."  
"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."  
"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds."  
Thor chuckled, "You people are so petty and tiny."  
"Yeah this a team", Bruce said.  
"Agent Romanoff", Fury said, "Would you escort Dr. Banner back to his..."  
"Where? You're renting my room." No, my room, and I could feel myself atrting to drown in my power.  
"The cell wasn't built for you. It was built for Agent Carter." At that eyes turned towards me and Dr. Banner.  
"Dr. Banner", I said through gritted teeth, "Put down the scepter." He glanced at the spear in his hands as the computer beeped. He set it down on the table and walked over to it.  
"Sorry kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all."  
"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.  
"I can get there faster", Tony said.  
"Look all of us...", Steve started, but Thor cut him off.  
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it." Stark turned to leave out of the door, but Steve stopped him.  
"You're not going alone."  
"You gonna stop me?"  
"Put on the suit let's find out."  
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."  
"Put on the suit."  
Banner looked up from the screen with a stunned expression on his face, "Oh my God."An explosion shook the ship and sent me sprawling to the floor. Natasha and Banner went through the window. Fury helped me to my feet.  
"Agent Carter you have to get to the holding cell."  
"Sir, I need to make sure Banner and Agent Romanoff are alright."  
"No Alexandra. You have your orders. Your skin is starting to glow."  
"What about Loki?"  
"I doubt he is in there anymore. This seems to be his rescue party. Now go!" I took off down the corridor, when the carrier dipped again and I slid to the floor. As I got to my feet I spotted Thor battling the hulk. Machine gun fire sounded and I saw Hulk jump off of the helicarrier. Thor stood for a moment and then started running towards the holding cell. Just as I rounded the corner I saw him.  
He yelled, "No!" He leapt at Loki's form leaving the cell. Thor passed through Loki and flew into the cell, the doors closing behind him.  
"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" I heard Loki's voice, smooth and seductive. I stayed close to the wall. Loki had his back to me and was standing at the control panel. Thor hit the glass of the cell with his hammer, causing a crack. A lock on the cell disengaged as he did so. Loki grinned at him and chuckled.  
He moved his fingers over the control panel, "The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" I came up behind Loki and swung at him. My fist swung through nothing and I nearly fell. I looked around the room when he walked in, holding his scepter. I backed up towards the door of the cell and a grin lit up his face.  
"Hello Agent Carter. Fancy seeing you here. You give a new meaning to the word glowing." He was right, my powers were about to blow. I could feel it. He strode over to the control panel, and reached for the button on the screen.  
I yelled at him, "Don't!" He looked over at me and smiled as he touched the screen. Underneath the cell, the bottom opened and wind began roaring. He pressed the disengage button and I reacted on instinct. I channeled all of my power into creating a barrier of energy beneath the cell, and to my suprise, it worked. The vacuum of air was pulling hard on the cell, trying to pull it down. Sweat broke out on my forehead and I felt all of the buildup of power dissipating, and quickly. I struggled to maintain the force field, for Thor's sake.  
Loki chuckled, "You cannot hold it forever." I ignored him, keeping my concentration on the barrier. Footsteps sounded as he walked closer to me. The energy was fading fast in an uncontrolled way, but I still felt close to a meltdown. He was standing next to me, and I just knew he had a smirk on his face as he waited on me to give up. I gave Thor a regretful look and my powers snapped. A wave of energy burst out from me, draining me completely. The cell plummeted downwards instantly. My world went spinning and I fell backwards into a pair of strong arms. Then everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I woke sometime later. I felt powerful, and I'm not exaggerating at all when I say I felt goddess-like. My muscles felt tougher and I felt like I was radiating my power. I was chained to a steel chair that seemed to be bolted to the floor. From what I could see I was in some kind of penthouse. Large glass windows gave glimpses of a city skyline. Footsteps sounded from behind me and I froze in my chair as they came closer. A hand stroked through my hair and I felt a small tremble run through my body.  
"What do you want from me?" I found myself asking the question before I could consider my words.  
"Why must I want something?" His accent was dark and sexy. It was no question why he was called silvertongue.  
"You're no fool. You don't do something without reason."  
Loki walked around the chair to face me, his fingers skimming over my arm as he did so, "What if I had no reason in taking you?"  
"Then I would think you were lying."  
He chuckled, "You know me so well."  
"No. I don't know you at all. You don't want anyone to know you, to understand you. You don't want to let anyone in."  
He frowned, "Everyone that I've let in has hurt me", he whispered.  
"Not intentionally I'm sure."  
"My so-called father kept my own identity from me my entire life. I was the least favored child. Do you know what it's like to find out you are a monster even to your own family?"  
"Yes", he looked up at me as I said the words. "I do. Loki, give this up. Doing this will not earn you their love. They already love you." He abruptly turned to gaze out of the window, and I knew that whatever glimpse I had just gotten of his soul was once again sealed off.  
"Soon the portal will be open and I will be king of this world."  
I rolled my eyes, "Right."  
He turned towards me, amusement in his eyes, "You doubt me?" He knelt down in front of me to look directly at me. His green eyes were both powerful and mesmerizing and I couldn't look away from him. I didn't reply, for fear I might say something I did not intend.  
When I didn't answer him he chuckled, "You will see." He absently ran a hand over my cheek as he stood, "You will see." I watched as he walked outside of the tower to stand on a balcony overlooking the city. Above him, on another balcony, Selvig was working on some sort of device. Then it lit up blue and a barrier formed around it, exactly like my force fields. Then I heard what sounded like boosters. There was a streak of red and gold and I saw Stark hovering over Selvig.  
"Shut it down Dr. Selvig." Selvig looked up at Tony.  
"It's too late, she can't stop now. She wants to show us something, a new universe."  
"Okay", Stark said in a disinterested voice. He fired at the barrier, but it merely reflected the blast, knocking both Stark and Selvig backwards from it. Selvig lay slumped on the ground by the machine and I hoped he was alright. Tony landed on a landing strip and his armor was removed as he walked inside. Loki also came inside as Tony did. I watched them both stride in with complete confidence.  
"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity", Loki sid with sarcasm evident in his voice.  
"Actually, I'm planning to threaten you."  
"You should have left your armor on for that."  
Stark looked thoughtful, "Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage and you've got the glow stick of destiny." Loki smirked, glancing down at the scepter in his hand. His eyes lifted and looked over to me. Tony followed his gaze and finally noticed me.  
"I knew you'd be wherever he was."  
"Not by choice", I muttered.  
Stark addressed Loki, "Would you like a drink?" He moved to his bar.  
"Stalling me won't change anything."  
"No, no; threatening. No drink? Are you sure? I'm having one."  
Loki faced the window, "The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"  
"The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes type thing."  
Loki walked towards my chair, "Yes I've met them", he said, placing his hand on the back of it.  
Stark scoffed, "Yeah. It takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one, but let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demigod; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breath-taking anger management issues. A couple of master assassins", he gestured at me, "A human Tesseract. And you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."  
Loki smiled, "That was the plan."  
"Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Tony walked around the bar and towards me, causing Loki to back up away from him.  
Loki's stance grew uneasy and he walked back towards my chair, "I have an army."  
Tony stood his ground, "We have a Hulk."  
Loki grinned, "I thought the beast had wandered off."  
"You're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." Loki stepped closer to Stark.  
"How will your friends have time for me when they are so busy fighting you?" Loki lifted the spear and touched it to Tony's chest. Nothing happened.  
Loki tried again with the same results, "This usually works."  
"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five…." Loki grabbed him by his throat and threw him across the room.  
"Jarvis anytime now", Tony said getting up from the floor.  
Loki grabbed him by his throat once again and lifted him into the air, "You will all fall before me."  
"Deploy", Stark choked out, "Deploy!" Loki threw him through the window. A red, rocket-type thing blasted from the wall and flew out of the window.  
"No!" I screamed and struggled to get free. Loki walked over to me swiftly, looking dangerous. He bent to look at me.  
His eyes were fierce and hypnotic as they bored deeply into mine, "You aren't going anywhere, you were right about me having my reasons."  
"You have no reason to keep me", I said through gritted teeth.  
"Oh really? Let's see, shall we?" He lifted the spear and pressed it to my heart. White, hot lightning flamed through my brain. A huge wave of energy expelled from me and I fell unconscious.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I woke to the sound of an explosion and a body landing somewhere near me. I felt powerful, and I'm not exaggerating at all when I say I felt goddess-like. My muscles felt tougher and I felt like I was radiating my power. Slowly I opened my eyes and Stark was lifting me into his arms. His mask pulled back to reveal his face.  
"What happened? I only remember breaking one window." I looked to the floor-to-ceiling windows but all of the window panes were gone.  
"He touched me with the spear."  
His brows lifted, "And you didn't turn?"  
"Obviously not."  
He grinned at me, "Smart ass." His mask fell back into place when an explosion shook the building. A blue pillar of light shot from the device and into the sky.  
"Right", he muttered, "Army." Still holding me, Stark flew into the air towards the newly opened portal. "A little help? After all I am carrying you around." We got closer to the barrier and alien creature started spilling out. Stark fired at them left and right, swerving to miss their random shots. He fired off a set of missiles and destroyed at least twenty. However, it didn't help much when they were constantly streaming out the portal. A blast from the Chitauri hit Stark and he dropped me. My adrenaline spike upwards and my skin started to glow with a blue aura. The air rushed up at me and in no time I hit a walkway of Stark tower. I looked up at Tony's form in the sky and I knew that fall should have killed me. The concrete around my feet was cracked from my landing, and I knew no normal human could have done that. I saw Loki standing above me on a higher landed beside me seconds later.  
"Loki!" His yell broke Loki out of his reveerie and he turned towards Thor. Thor gestured with his hammer, "Turn off the Tesseract or I will destroy it."  
"You can't. There is no stopping it." I put a hand on Thor's arm and his gaze moved to me.  
"He's right Thor. Tony shot at it, and the barrier is impenetrable."  
Loki continued, "There is only the war."  
"So be it", Thor muttered. He pushed me behind him to shield me from harm. Loki jumped down from his perch and tackled Thor. Thor pushed him off and swung at him with his hammer, but Loki blocked the hit with his scepter. He shot a bolt at Thor, but he used his hammer to reflect it.  
"Alexandra", he yelled, "Go! Quickly!" The bolt reflected from the hammer and hit the 'K' of the Stark building. It fell down to the streets below. I turned my earpiece on, moving away from Thor and Loki, and heard Natasha's voice.  
"Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast."  
I heard Stark's cocky reply, "What, did you stop for drivethrough? Swing up Park. I'm going to lay them out for you."  
"Stark?" I spoke loudly into the earpiece as I stepped close to the railing, "Jumping from your building. Mind picking me up?"  
"No problem." I launched myself over the edge of the building as Thor and Loki got closer to me.  
I heard Loki's cry of frustration, "Noo!" I fell for a few seconds when Stark whiplashed me to him.  
"Miss me?" He asked holding tightly to my waist. I smiled at him.  
"Maybe a little."  
"Hmm. I'll consider that next time when you want to jump off a building." I chuckled. He zoomed past Loki and Thor battling on the tower and continued through the air, with a couple of Chitauri on our tail. As we flew past, Natasha fired at them with the jet and I sent her a mental thank you. The jet climbed higher towards the Stark building when a blue bolt hit it's wing. The jet spiraled downwards and crashed someways away. A loud noise caught our attention and a huge, serpent-like monster came through the portal.  
I heard Rogers on the earpiece, "Stark, are you guys seeing this?" Stark flew us closer to the mechanical monster. It somehow was airbourne despite its sie.  
"Seeing. Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"  
"Banner?"  
"Just keep me posted." We followed the beast and Stark fired at it. The Chitauri turned and began to follow us.  
"Well, we got its attention. What the hell was step two?" Stark fired up his boosters and we blasted away. I heard Rogers again on the headset.  
"What's the story upstairs?"  
"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable."  
"We got to deal with these guys."  
Natasha spoke up, "How do we do this?"  
"As a team", Rogers answered.  
"Yeah? Well get in line."  
I looked up at Tony, "Is that Barton? He's alright?"  
"Yeah he's back on our side now."  
"Save it", Rogers said, "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild." Tony swerved to avoid the creature.  
"We need to somehow split up", I told him loudly.  
"Yeah? And how do you suggest we do that?"  
"I have an idea. Let me go."  
He hesitated, "Okay", he said, his voice reluctant. "On a count of three. One. Two. Three." Stark's arm unclenched from around my waist and I fell.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I concentrated on my powers quickly, which wasn't hard considering they were all riled up. I felt the blue energy crackling around my hands and feet and I wasn't falling anymore. He spotted me beneath him.  
"That is like my suit, just without the suit. Split up here." He made a sharp left and I zoomed right. The creature turned after Stark, so I started taking out Chitauri on their vehicles. I shot boilts of energy that sent them flying off their vehicles and down to the streets below.  
I heard Rogers in my ear, "We got Stark and Alex up top. They're going to need us to...", his voice broke off. There was a small pause when he spoke up, "Stark, we got him."  
"Banner?"  
"Just like you said."  
"Then tell him to suit up. Alex meet me in the middle. We're bringing the party to you." I swerved sharply and came up alongside Stark. The monster followed noisily behind us. We were speeding towards the rest of the group.  
"I don't see how that's a party", Natasha stated. We sped over them, the beast closing in. I saw Banner transform and hit the monster, making it come up vertically.  
"Hold on!" Stark said. I created a barrier over everyone below, just like one the Tesseract had around it. Stark fired a small rocket at the beast and it exploded into bits of debris. I glided to the ground, lifting the barrier, and Tony landed beside me. Roars of outrage sounded around us, and then more Chitauri started filtering through the portal, including the behemoths.  
"Guys", Natasha warned.  
"Call it Captain", Stark said.  
"All right, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you to turn it to ash."  
Barton looked at Stark, "Can you give me a lift?"  
"Right. Better clench up Legolas." He grabbed Barton and shot into the air.  
"Thor you got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You the lightning. Light the bastards up. Alex, go with him. Use your powers to try and keep as many from coming out as possible." I nodded and Thor wrapped an arm around my waist.  
He swung his hammer quickly, "Let's go little sister", I gave him a strange look and he launched us into the air. He flew up to the tip of a tall scraper. I made a barrier to stand on, not touching the building so I wouldn't get electrocuted. Thor held his hammer in the air, summoning lightning from a building storm. The lightning coated the building, crackling with electricity. With a yell, Thor launched the lightning at the portal, destroying many Chitauri. Holding up a hand, I created a barrier that covered the portal. I closed my eyes to help my concentration stay on the barrier, I only hoped Thor would watch my back while I was exposed. I felt the energy draining from my body the longer I held the barrier. The portal was just so big and so far away it was draining all the power I had felt invincible with a moment ago. I found it difficult to stand up straight and a hand grasped my shoulder to steady me. I opened my eyes and looked over at Thor.  
"Let it go. It's too much for you."  
"I can't." Then my powers snapped from the exertion. The barrier covering the portal flickered out and the panel beneath me vanished. I slipped from Thor's grasp as he was caught off guard. I fell down into the air, and struggled to gain control over my powers to keep myself from dying. I heard Thor yell my name, but he couldn't leave his position due to the flood of Chitauri through the portal. A huge jolt hit me and I was suddenly flying through the air. I looked behind me and Loki was holding me by my waist. He was on one of the alien aircrafts. He kept a firm hold on me and wedged me between him and what I assumed was the steering wheel.  
"Let me go." I wriggled, trying to get away from him.  
"I don't think so", he purred into my ear, while pressing me closer to him. I felt my energy coming back into me, and my power becoming strong once again. He turned a sharp corner and I saw Natasha on one of the aircrafts. Loki fired a couple of shots at her, but I blocked them from reaching her with a couple of small barriers. Loki growled at me in distaste. She kept going straight, towards the building I knew Barton was on. I saw Hawkeye release the arrow and speed towards Loki. At the last possible second, he grabbed it and smirked at Clint. Then the arrow exploded. Loki and I flew off the vehicle and landed in a heap inside of Stark tower. I saw Natasha jump from her craft onto the tower's building. I untangled myself from beneath Loki and stood up. A hand wrapped around my ankle and I was yanked to the floor. He loomed up over me as the Hulk tackled him. I got to my feet and ran over to Natasha. She turned to face me.  
"The scepter", we both looked down at Dr. selvig, who had woken up.  
"Doctor", Natasha stated.  
"Loki's scepter. The energy. The Tesseract can't fight, but you can't protect against yourself."  
"It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing.", she knealt down beside Selvig.  
"Actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut their power source." I looked over at the barrier surrounding the Tesseract. I pressed my hand to it and to my suprise, it slipped though.  
"Or you could shut it down", Selvig said. He stood up and opened a laptop. He pointed at the barrier around the Tesseract. "Right at the crown."  
"Guys, Alex can close the portal", Natsha spoke into her headpiece," Can anybody copy? Alex can shut the portal down."  
Rogers responded, "Do it!"  
"No wait", Stark interjected.  
"Stark these things are still coming."  
"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know exactly where to put it."  
"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Natasha and I watched as Tony flew over us towards the portal, the nuke in his grasp. He went through it and disappeared. Within moments Chitauri started falling dead around us.  
I waited with bated breath, "Come on Tony", I whispered.  
"Close it", Rogers ordered. I thrust my hand into the crown of the device and the pillar of light disintegrated. The portal was closing rapidly, and just as it was closing completely Stark passed approached the ground quickly, accelerating, until the Hulk swiped him out of the air. I let out sigh of relief and let the energy around my arm vanish. We waited on the others to get to the tower, then we approached Loki. He was pulling himself out of an indention in the floor. He turned and noticed all of us standing above him.  
"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now", he gave a small smile.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After we took Loki into custody, Thor pulled me to the side, "Walk with me I would like to talk to you about something." I allowed him to lead me away.  
"Loki has always been a lonely child, as I'm sure you can relate to." I nodded. "I have never seen him take an actual interest in a female though. Never. Before there were only flings, but for some reason you are different."  
I shrugged it off, "Me being a human Tesseract is probably intriguing to him. He seems to have a weakness for power."  
Thor shook his head, "No it's not that. He seems to have genuine feelings for you, like I do for Jane."  
"Why are you telling me this?"  
"On Asgard we are considered Gods, and Loki being capable of magic, we have no prison that could hold him. My father knows this, which is why he has asked me to request you accompany Loki and I back to Asgard. With your powers, you can keep him contained. I would hate to see my brother stripped of his powers and thrown into a dungeon."  
"There's something else isn't there?"  
"My father has noticed that you seem to be a 'human Tesseract' as you put it. The Tesseract is coming back to Asgard with us, and that leaves you in can use you to make weapons and open portals. My father wishes to offer you sanctuary from this."  
"Thor, as great as this offer is, I can't accept. I am human, I can't go to Asgard. I would be looked upon as a lesser being and a fool, rather than an equal. I appreciate that you were trying to help, but I can't leave, this is my home."  
"I understand Alex", he said as he started to leave, "But remember this: Home is where your heart is." He gave me a pointed look and his gaze flicked over to Loki, and then he turned and left. I stood there for a moment, did I love Loki? I shook my head, no, I admire him, that's all. Like Natasha always told me, love is for children. I will try to stick to that motto, but Thor's kept popping into my head. I let out a sigh of frustration and followed after Thor.


End file.
